Sandra "Sandy" Wells 01/08/1942 - 02/09/2019
Obituary
Sandra "Sandy" O'Shea Wells, longtime writer for The Charleston Gazette and Gazette-Mail, died Saturday, February 9, at Hubbard Hospice House in Charleston after a spirited fight with pancreatic cancer. She was 77. Daughter of the late Herold and Lois O'Shea, Sandy was born January 8, 1942, in Huntington with her fraternal twin sister, Sherry O'Shea Wallace. Her father co-founded Wellman-O'Shea Jewelers in Huntington. Sandy graduated from Huntington High School in 1959 and earned a B.S. degree in advertising and speech from Marshall University in 1963. She was feature editor for the school paper, The Parthenon, and graduated with honors. She started at the Gazette in August of 1963 as fashion editor and society reporter. In the mid-1970s, she was transferred to general assignment duties. She covered health and medicine for eight years, then shifted to straight feature writing. Sandy wrote about people in the community, iconic places and any subject that intrigued her. In 1988, she introduced her beloved first-person life story column called Innerviews. Sandy officially retired in 2009 but continued writing the weekly profiles. Her last column ran on January 29 of this year. Sandy chronicled the lives of thousands of people from all walks of life throughout the course of the column's three decades. She loved boating on the Kanawha River and Summersville Lake, enjoying the peace at her camp in Poe, Nicholas County; bluegrass and country music (especially Hank Williams, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and local performers The Band Wagon and Tom Holcomb); going to NASCAR races at Martinsville, Virginia; watching "Law & Order," "Dallas," "The Rockford Files"; lilacs, zinnias, Miller High Life beer, Slim Jims, the Red Carpet Lounge, Bridge Road Bistro and most people. In 2013, she wrote an extensive article tracing highlights of her 50 years at the Gazette. "I've had the most amazing time," she wrote. "I often ask subjects how they'd like to be remembered. Well, remember me by the stories I've told. That's who I am. I tell stories. That's all I know." Sandy is survived by her twin sister and brother-in-law, Sherry and Doug Wallace of Huntington; her beloved longtime companion, Jack Knight Jr.; her son, Shannon Wells of Portland, Oregon; daughter, Shea Wells of Fayetteville, West Virginia; their father, Danny Wells of Charleston; grandsons, Keller Stowers and Nash Mulcahy of Fayetteville; and nieces, Shelly Kelley of Tallahassee, Florida, and Carrie Wallace of Huntington. Visitation will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 13, at Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home on Virginia Street. The memorial service she planned will follow immediately. Sandy specifically requested that family and friends gather afterwards for music and merriment at the Red Carpet Lounge, on Elizabeth Street. Instead of flowers, please donate to your local hospice, animal shelter or favorite charity.
